After a month of public tensions over the city’s handling of the Palisades Fire, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass removed Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley on Friday.
“Acting in the best interests of Los Angeles’ public safety, and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I have removed Kristin Crowley as Fire Chief,” Bass said in a statement. “We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowley’s watch."
At a press conference Friday afternoon, firefighters' union President Freddy Escobar disputed that characterization, saying that there weren't enough fire engines for the additional firefighters to stay on duty.
As further justification for the firing, Bass said the president of the Fire Commission had told Crowley to do an "after-action report on the fires," and she refused.
Escobar, however, clarified that Crowley had told the Fire Commission she believed the commission, which is a governing rather than investigative body, was the wrong place to perform an investigation. Instead, the private Fire Safety Research Institute is handling a comprehensive report on the Palisades and Eaton fires at the state's expense.
Bass and Crowley have been publicly at odds since the Palisades Fire was still raging in early January, with the fire chief telling a Fox 11 reporter point-blank that Bass had failed her department. She also told CNN that a $17 million budget cut “did absolutely negatively impact” the LAFD’s ability to fight the fires.
City officials insisted that under a union contract approved late last year, the budget will ultimately increase the LAFD’s funding later this fiscal year. Bass told reporters that there were no reductions that “would have impacted the situation that we were dealing with over the last couple of days."
Bass also came under international scrutiny for her decision to travel to Ghana amid warnings about dangerous winds before the fire broke out in January. On Thursday, she deflected the blame onto Crowley, claiming the fire chief never warned her about the severity of the situation.
The LAFD pushed back, telling NBC LA that the department followed standard procedures, including emailing two separate media advisories and conducting multiple interviews about extreme fire weather.
“Chief Crowley remains the most qualified member of the Los Angeles City Fire Department that earned her well deserved appointment as Fire Chief," Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said in a statement. "I am outraged by the scapegoating revealed by the Mayor's actions. I plan to use my authority as a Councilmember to set the record straight and encourage Chief Crowley to appeal the Mayor’s baseless termination to the City Council. The public deserves a full account of every single leadership failure that has taken place.”
Businessman and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso called the firing "very disappointing."
“Chief Crowley served Los Angeles well and spoke honestly about the severe and profoundly ill-conceived budget cuts the Bass administration made to the LAFD," he said. That courage to speak the truth was brave, and I admire her. Honesty in a high city official should not be a firing offense. The Mayor's decision to ignore the warnings and leave the city was hers alone.”
Bass announced that 41-year LAFD veteran Ronnie Villanueva will serve as interim fire chief.
According to the mayor's office, Crowley will remain with the agency at a lower rank following her firing as fire chief.
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